A meme with a fabricated quote painted the U.S. Representative as having been shockingly insensitive to the Las Vegas shooting victims.

CLAIM

RATING

ORIGIN

In early October 2017, an image purportedly quoting former U.S. House of Representatives member Michele Bachmann speaking about the victims of the Las Vegas mass shooting began circulating on social media:

The text, superimposed on a photograph of Bachmann, read:

I’M NOT BLAMING THE VICTIMS OF THE LAS VEGAS INCIDENT, BUT IF THEY WERE OBSERVING THE SABBATH LIKE MARCUS AND ME AND AT HOME READING THEIR BIBLES, THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN SAFE.

I’M NOT BLAMING THE VICTIMS, BUT IT IS THEIR FAULT

MICHELE BACHMANN
FOX AND FRIENDS
OCTOBER 4, 2017.

The statement attributed to Bachmann is an obvious fabrication. Bachmann did not appear in any contemporaneous Fox & Friendsclips shared to the Fox News web site, nor did any other news outlets cover what would have been extremely newsworthy and controversial remarks in the wake of the 1 October massacre. Moreover, the image (implicitly of Bachmann’s supposed 4 October Fox & Friends appearance) came from an October 2014 segment on the show.

Like many false quotes, this one appears to have been fabricated in order to drum up hatred and suspicion between Americans with ideological differences.